大象传媒

I was working in an institute in a TB hospital called Grove Park, I was a nurse and throughly enjoyed it! I was evacuated from St Nicolas hospital in plumstead and went to Grove park. I was 20, I didn't have a boyfriend at the time, I was too busy concentrating on my studies! I remember the day war was declared, it was a sunday 3rd September and we had just got in from Church and I and my colleagues were waiting for a meal. At the time I didnt' think much of it, I worried about the restrictions. We were not too please when we were warned that when there were airraids we would have to sleep in the floor and the shelters which we were not too happy about. We were based quite near Woolwich Arsenal where they produced alot of the guns but we werent allowed to go near there. I dont remember seeing any bombs fall but we were working in the blackout. Working in the hospital we saw alot of the casualties, especially during the doodlebug period (doodlebug was a type of bomb that Hitler brought in, you could hear the certain type of whistle they would make, instead of dropping straight down they would go a further distance, the fainter the noice of the whistle the more you knew you were safe.! ) At first I was afraid of the bombs but as you got to know the noice made, you would thank god that it wasnt you when they fell somewhere else. You were upset for the Paitents who were affected by them, some had lost limbs and suffered serious injuries! My colleagues were a major support for me. and in the early hours, around 2am, a bomb fell into the house where I was working.
I had a colleague called Mary Fleming, working who rescued people from the top floor of which she was awarded the St Georges Cross. Another girl had a boyfriend who was a reporter who reported the story.
In VE day I was in bedfordshire because I had an illness, I watched the sky full of aeroplanes heading to Germany but we didnt realise what it was all about until we heard it on the news!

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